Record Review /
Robert Levine,
International Record Review (London) / 01. January 2010

You need special singers to portray opera convincingly when the cameras are closing in on your face. The stars need to be able to act. They need to look into each other's eyes, not stare in panic at the conductor's baton. Ideally, they should also not sweat too much. All these special needs of the Metropolitan Opera's HD broadcasts were met last February when Russian soprano Anna Netrebko and Polish tenor Piotr Beczala . . . took on the lead roles in Gaetano Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor. The rest of the cast and chorus is equally golden, as is the Met's orchestra, conducted by Marco Armiliato . . . The sets are plush, the staging straightforward and masterfully integrated with the music . . . this turned out as well as anyone could imagine.